G.M.'s Ever-Shrinking Labor Force

By JEREMY W. PETERS; Eric O'Keefe, in Arlington, Tex., and Aaron Nathans, in Janesville, Wis., contributed reporting for this article.

Published: June 8, 2005

Jayne Atwell describes herself as a ''G.M. gypsy,'' a name General Motors workers have for people who have been shuffled from plant to plant over the years as the company has closed factories and cut its labor force.

''I've had five plants in the last 10 years and I'm still hanging in there,'' said Ms. Atwell, 42, who now builds dashboards at the G.M. Flint Truck Assembly plant here.

For Ms. Atwell and many other G.M. workers in Flint, the prospect of deeper cuts to the company's labor force was not a matter of if, but when. So on Tuesday, when word spread that G.M. plans to eliminate more than 20 percent of its blue-collar jobs in the United States, it made more of a rustle than a thud.

''I just more or less roll with the punches,'' Ms. Atwell added as she was getting into her Chevrolet Trailblazer after her shift. ''I live on my faith, and God is going to take care of it one way or another.''

Barney Morgan, who has worked for G.M. for 28 years, said he was used to watching the number of workers around him shrink. At G.M.'s Flint Metal Center, where Mr. Morgan is a crane operator, the number of jobs is down about a third since 1998, when the plant had close to 3,400 employees.

''We're downsizing everywhere,'' Mr. Morgan added. ''What used to take 15 people to run now takes 6 or 7.''

The news that G.M. will shed even more jobs was not a surprise, he said. ''We knew it was coming.''

Workers at the Flint Metal Center, which makes sheet metal pieces for cars and trucks, know a bit about strife with G.M. management over jobs. In the summer of 1998, a strike at this factory and another across town brought G.M.'s North American operations to a halt. For nearly eight weeks, 9,200 striking workers here held up G.M.'s vehicle production, forcing the company to shut almost all of its North American factories for much of the summer and to temporarily lay off almost 200,000 workers.

G.M. has not said where this latest round of employee cutbacks will hit the hardest or which factories will close. But in Flint, many workers said they had reluctantly grown to accept the fact that job insecurity comes with working in the auto industry these days.

''It's not like it used to be,'' said Bridget Campbell, 49, a welder at Flint Metal who has worked for G.M. for 27 years. ''When I hired in, just about everybody could get a job. Nowadays, you have to know somebody to get in.'' Ms. Campbell, who has three years left before retirement, said she hoped she would still have a job that long. ''I'm just looking to make my last three years.''

At G.M. plants across the country on Tuesday, workers shrugged off news of the job cuts. For many, it was not the first time they had heard the company was reducing its work force.

''I've been here 29 years; they've been about to close this plant since I started; we just take it as it comes,'' said Ron Pohlman, 49, a worker at the assembly plant in Janesville, Wis., where 3,900 employees make some of the company's most profitable sport utility vehicles like the GMC Yukon and the Chevrolet Tahoe.

C.E. Williams, 55, a supervisor at the S.U.V. plant in Arlington, Tex., which has a total of 2,800 employees, said simply: ''No guarantees in this business.'' Mr. Williams, who has worked for G.M. since 1976, said he viewed the cutbacks as a regular part of doing business. ''Most big companies get a crisis attitude when things go wrong -- happens every five or six years. They talk about downsizing, cost of benefits.''

Like many G.M. employees with decades of seniority, 61-year-old Jim Palso, a millwright at Flint Metal, said he was confident his job was safe. ''I haven't got any discomfort,'' he said. ''I've got 38 years, so they wouldn't try to lay me off.''

Manny Salazar, 47, the communication coordinator for the United Automobile Workers at the Arlington plant, expressed optimism that the plant would remain open but did offer a note of caution about demand for large S.U.V.'s.

''They've been out there in the market for five, six years now,'' he said. ''People want a change. People like change. And look at the price of gas? I don't care how much money you make, everyone notices how high the price has gone, don't they?''

Few G.M. employees expressed outright concern about losing their jobs, but it seemed the possibility had crossed many workers' minds.

Chuck Peters, a painter at Flint Metal who also owns a tanning salon in nearby Grand Blanc, said that as a business owner, he knew just how bad the economy was. He has seen business slow lately, he said, because people in the area have less money for luxuries like electric tanning.

Mr. Peters described as inevitable either a reduction in pay or a cut in benefits, if not both. ''What else are you going to do?'' he said. ''I'd rather not have to, but I don't have a choice.''

Mr. Pohlman, the Janesville worker, said he worried about the younger G.M. workers who do not have seniority to fall back on and may be forced to leave Janesville if they are laid off. ''Nobody wants to leave their family, friends, favorite hunting and fishing spot,'' he said.

Mr. Williams, the supervisor in Arlington, said he knew that no plant, including his, was ever bulletproof. ''I don't think you're ever totally comfortable,'' he said.

Other workers were preparing themselves for a transfer to another plant, one possibility for workers in plants that G.M. will close.

''If they tell me I've got to go to Illinois or something, then I'd be a little upset,'' said Ms. Atwell, the self-described G.M. gypsy. ''I just try not to think about it.''

Photos: Workers left G.M.'s Flint Metal Center yesterday after their shift. Most employees seemed to take news of labor cuts in stride. (Photo by Bridget Barrett for The New York Times)(pg. C1); Jim Palso said he was confident his job was safe. ''I haven't got any discomfort,'' he said. ''I've got 38 years, so they wouldn't try to lay me off.'' (Photo by Bridget Barrett for The New York Times)(pg. C11)

Chart/Map: ''Downsizing G.M.''
General Motors announced plans to cut its labor force in the United States by about 25,000 jobs. It did not disclose which plants it intends to close.

LARGEST PLANT
Lansing: 367,973

SMALLEST PRODUCER
Wilmington: 11,729

Graph tracks all U.S. employees (hourly and salary) from 2000 to 2004.

Graphs track hourly employees (payroll and average labor cost per hour worked*) from 2000 to 2004.